The Fourth World

The Fourth World tells with warmth and compassion the story of eighteen year old Chira's attempt to escape the deprivations and tragedies of her life in the shanty slum of Enugu's Kasanga Avenue, the "Fourth World" of the novel. Her situation is dire, and the novel charts the many traps and injustices that conspire to hold Chira and her neighbours in their indigence.

The narrative skilfully delineates the life of a Nigerian slum-dweller, moving the reader to anger and sadness on many occasions, but without slipping into sentimentalism or melodrama.

About the Author:

Ifeoma Okoye is an award-winning author. Her novel, Behind the Clouds (Longman, UK), won the prestigious Nigerian Festival of Arts and Culture Award and was selected by Spectrum Books as one of the best 25 Nigerian books written over the past 25 years. Her novel, Men Without Ears (Longman, UK), won the Association of Nigerian Authors Best Fiction of the Year Award, and in 1999 her short story ‘Waiting for a Son’ won the African Regional Prize in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. Her latest novel, The Fourth World, was released in January 2013. She lives in Enugu, Nigeria.